Today completely unfamiliar technology turned up on my own doorstep. A ready-made blog.We’d had an outflow problem on Saturday, fanfared when my wife found two dead rats floating in the entrance to an outside drain. “Foul water or sewage?” asked the man from Drain Clear this morning, cheerily offering me the options. The blockage was quickly resolved. Roots from our neighbour’s front-garden conifer had entered the drainage system and dammed off our access to it.
Once the roots had been chopped away our tubes were given their own special enema with a high-pressure water hose. And I mean high-pressure. How about 2000 psi or, if you prefer it, 138 bar? As a comparison my car tyres are normally inflated to just over 35 psi.
The Drain Clear pump has the capacity to go up to 4000 psi. Used in conjunction with what is called a pencil jet this force would apparently cut through a brick wall. Enough to clear the most recalcitrant embouteillage.
Or inflict more personal damage. Operatives must use these things with care. A bit of carelessness and the jet “would go right through a man’s boot and take his toe off.” I’ll take Drain Clear’s word for it. However I must add that having a drain cleared is – almost literally – cathartic.
